I Don't Believe in Fairytales
by Angel-from-the-Ashes
Summary: AU Artemis is a cliché basket baby that was abandoned at a Gotham slums Orphanage, or so she was told. On her sixteenth birthday Artemis discovers the secrets of her past and finds out that everything she knew about her life, where she came from and the fairytales she was told as a child were a lie. Now, she will risk her life to save the world she had forgotten. Spitfire. High T
1. Prologue

_I'm not Snow White,  
__But I'm lost inside this forest  
__I'm not Red Riding Hood,  
__But I think the wolves have got me  
__Don't want your stilettos  
__I'm not, not Cinderella  
__I don't need a knight,  
__So baby take off all your armour  
__You be the beast,  
__And I'll be the beauty, beauty  
__Who needs true love,  
__As long as you love me truly?  
__I want it all,  
__But I want ya more  
__Will you wake me up boy  
__If I bite your poison apple?_

_I don't believe in fairy tales,  
__But I believe in you and me  
__Take me to Wonderland_

_~Natalia Kills_

___It was just so . . . bright. She stood in a heavily vegetated area that circled around her, sunlight filtered in through the canopy whilst multi colored lanterns and streamers hung down from the branches. There was a slight breeze that felt warm and comforting and the scent of rose water and buttermilk filled her nostrils. She looked straight ahead to see a dainty, round white table with matching chairs with a little tea set and three plates filled with little colorful treats on top of it._

"_C'mon Blondie! Let's go eat." She heard a voice from behind. She was about to whip her head around until she felt someone grab her hand and drag her towards the table. It was a boy about the age of five wearing a striking yellow blazer with matching shorts, a crisp white under shirt with a red boy tie, his outfit complete with little brown leather boots. He turned back to grin at her and saw that he had a generous sprinkling of freckles across his cheeks, his hair was a red copper color that changed in the filtered light, and his eyes were so . . . green. Green like the leaves above them, only brighter and more alive. _

_Though his eyes lured her in and his smile made her feel tingly, she tore her gaze away from his face and looked down at their joint hands, shocked. When had her hands become so tiny? They looked like a child's hands, her small tan one wrapped in his slightly bigger pale one. Then again, when had she become so small? She had to tilt her slightly up to look at the boy's head. _

"_Here, sit!" He insisted and pulled out one of the table's chairs and pushed her into it. That's when she noticed what she wearing. It was a very light mint green dress that had a very layered skirt, cupcake sleeves and a white frilly apron wrapped around the front. Then she noticed how short she was; she really had shrunk! _

_The boy had skipped around and sat in the chair next to her. He grabbed the teapot and poured some tea into the cup in front of him then into the cup in front of her. "Cream and two sugars right?" He said adding said ingredients to her cup and stirred it for her. The girl found extremely weird for the young boy to act in such civilized and sophisticated manner (even though it was in a very childish way). _

"_Who are you?" She demanded (her voice much higher than she had expected it to be) as she watched the boy scarf down a cake and then another with a mouthful of tea. He gave her a confused look and offered her a finger cake, which she cautiously accepted. _

"_What do ya mean? Oh I get it, are we playing a game?" He asked wiping his hands off on his shorts. "If we are then guess what I am." Then the redhead folded his arms into triangles and started flapping them in an up and down motion whilst he made a clucking noise. _

"_I'm being serious! Who are you? Where am I!?" She yelled, but regretted it when he stopped his little act and she saw the hurt look in his eyes._

"_That ain't funny Blondie, it's me." He said gesturing to himself. "Don't you remember?" His voice seemed to echo over, and the world around her seemed to darken. The temperature dropped a__nd harsh winds ripped through the once bright clearing. And through the rumbling chaos his voice vibrated in her ears._

"_Don't you remember?"_

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**AN: So I'm taking a break from my other stories because all this stuff has been happening and my USB I missing and my laptop crashed and it's the start of the school holidays where I'm from so I decided to write this new story that was inspired by the song 'Wonderland' by Natalia Kills. So I'm going to upload the next chapter if I at least get one fave/follow/review and if you like it and have any ideas please don't hesitate to put them in PM/reviews.**

**From the girl who'll always come back~**

**Angel **_  
_


	2. Chapter 1: Origin

**AN: Hi guys! So here's the next chapter. It's shorter than normal since in most of my other stories most chapters are 4000+ words but it's time for change. Special thanks to:**

**randommonkeyz998  
mozepelmoon  
spitfireforever  
PerfectlyStrange  
ZeroV  
firefenix12  
B07robl-spitfire  
Irenerb  
paineraine**

randommonkeyz998: thanks for your review! and i love the song too! the theme was perfect for the story :)

**So thanks and if you have any ideas plz don't hesitate to put them in PMs or reviews (though I would like them in reviews better). And if guys see any mistakes plz tell me because i have no beta :( Unless any of you would offer to be mine, that would be great!**

**ON WITH THE FIC! **

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Artemis shot up from her bed, clutching the blanket to her chest and ignoring the pain as her fingernails dug into her palms through the thin sheet. Cold sweat ran down her temples, dripping off her chin as she struggled to calm her breathing. It was that _dream _again. Every night for the last two weeks she had been plagued by the same dream. It would start out in the clearing, the boy would take her to the table for tea, she'd ask him who he was and then it always ended with that one sentence-'Don't you remember?'

She took a breath through her nose and blew out through mouth to even out her breathing. His name, what was his goddamn name? Who was he? He was so familiar yet so far from her memory, even though she hadn't even met him before.

When the world finally came into focus, she realized that there was an annoying buzzing noise sounding off in the background. She looked her right to see on her ratty bedside table in her stained walled room was her alarm clock going off. It read eight ten AM.

"Shit!" The blond cursed and stumbled out of bed. Twenty minutes before school started. Slamming the off button on the insufferable device, she danced into a pair of dark skinny jeans and a white tank top. Slipping on a brown half jacket and a pair of worn leather boots she grabbed her backpack and strapped her necklace around her neck. Not bothering with the stairs she jumped onto the paint stripped banister and slid down, at the same time tying her long hair into a ponytail on the way.

Artemis Lian Crock was fifteen years old and lived at an Orphanage since she was a baby. She had been put there in the most cliche way possible; the caretaker had found her on their doorstep when she was a couple months old, and she had been there ever since. The Orphanage itself was located right at the start of the Gotham slums, where second class Gotham met the slums. The place was a large two story, brown brick building that looked and smelt like someone had thrown up on it, but it was home. And the look of the place made people feel sorry for the kids, that's why every few months a kid was gone and few more were brought to it.

She reached the bottom of the banister and leaped off before her hip hit the curved up end. Tightening her ponytail she was about to turn to the hallway that led to the kitchen when she fell down and face planted on the rough carpet that covered a section of the hard wood floor.

"Hey Arty Farty!" She heard whiny voice say from behind. She should have known. Artemis got from the floor and rubbed her aching nose in frustration. When she turned she saw a little eight-year-old boy standing there, nose scrunched up and a stupid little grin plastered on his face. Marvin White was brattiest little kid at the orphanage. The little brown haired demon came here when he was seven and ever since that day he had never liked her, and she had no idea why.

"You tripped me you little-" The blond started as she stalked towards the little boy and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "-Troll!"

"Aunty Dinah! SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!" The boy screamed at the top of his lungs, calling for their caretaker as he struggled to get out of the older girl's grip. Artemis admitted she liked that the kid had spunk. Out of six other kids (four boys and two girls) he was the only boy that wasn't scared of her, she respected that. But use that fact to tolerate him being a pest? Hell. No.

"Put him down, Artemis." A voiced said from the hallway. The teen muttered a curse under her breath and let the boy go, who after blew raspberry in her face and ran off, probably to find the boys tell them how he miraculously managed to sneak up on and trip the 'blond witch'.

"God he is such a little ass." Artemis said turning, gripping the straps of her backpack tighter in annoyance.

"Yes but don't worry, I'll punish him later." Dinah said with a small smile. Dinah Lance was the one of two Orphanage caretakers and had worked there since the day Artemis was brought to the place, in fact she was the one who had found her on the doorstep. She was slightly taller with very pale blond hair and ice blue eyes. She was a very beautiful woman, and still quite young since she had just turned thirty a few months back. She held an air of authority that made the kids fall in line whenever she was around yet she was still warm and caring enough that every child (Artemis included) loved her.

The woman had been there all her life, she was the one who raised since no one seemed to want to adopt Artemis. She had always thought that parents were put off by her looks. She had incredibly tan skin with natural blond hair, slight asian features and steely grey eyes that were too silver to be blue. Either that or the fact the since the other kids that were there before used to make fun of for her looks so she would get into to fights with them. Whether it was a boy or girl, when Artemis was little she never hesitated to punch another kid if they said on word against her. But as the years went on all those kids left the orphanage. Other children came and went, yet she just stayed.

"Yeah ok, but Dinah I really have to go-"

Next thing she knew a slice of toast that the older blond must had hid behind her back was shoved into her mouth, forcing her to take a bite. "Without breakfast again? I don't think so young lady."

"I'm sorry." Artemis apologized. "I woke up late 'cause-"

"Because of the dream?" Dinah finished.

"Yeah," Artemis replied, taking another bite from her toast. "I mean don't understand. Why do I keep having the same one? Don't people normally have different dreams?"

The caretaker stared for a moment, almost hesitant to answer. "Well," She started. "Sometimes when people have recurring dreams have a message in them, or . . ." The older blond trailed off.

"Or . . . ?"

"Or your own mind wants you to remember something."

"But it doesn't make sense!" Artemis complained. "It's always of that place and that boy who asks me why I don't remember! What don't I remember? I've never even met him before."

"Well maybe you'll meet him in the future." Dinah explained. "Now you should go before you're late."

"Right."

"Bye Artemis!" She heard from above. She looked up to see the orphanage's two girls, Wendy and Karen (both seven), waving from the top of the staircase. The two of them were angels, both looked up to Artemis as if she was their big sister. They were both still young and had the best chances of being adopted soon, it would be sad to see them go.

"Bye girls! I'll see you guys later tonight!" Artemis called and chomped down on the rest of her toast as she ran for the door.

"And Artemis! Happy-" The blond teen never caught the end of her caretaker's call due to fact that she was already half way down the street, running towards Gotham North High School in the cold Gotham air.


	3. Chapter 2: School

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! School here has started up again and I've been sick for a while, but I'm getting better! So thanks to everyone who are following, put this story in their favourites and have reviewed. Plz R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice (I wish :'( )**

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The bell rung and the students of Gotham North rushed out of their classrooms and into the hallways. Artemis followed suit and weaved herself through the crowd towards her locker. Gotham North wasn't the nicest of schools. Every locker was rusted and busted, the lights would flicker every few minutes, the floor was constantly coated into something sticky and there wasn't one surface that didn't have some type of graffiti on it.

The blond continued too walk when she saw a bunch of seniors hanging a freshman up on a nail on the wall by the back of his underpants. The poor kid's face was redder than a tomato and everyone who passed by either laughed or just looked away. Once the older boys were walking away, talking about their handy work, Artemis went up and helped the boy down. He said his thanks and waddled away, probably to the nurse's office for some lotion for the wedgie burn.

Yep. That was Gotham North. She headed to her locker, which was fortunately on the same floor. She reached it, it was good old locker one hundred and eleven; triple one. It was like all the others, slightly rusted, the grey paint peeling off and had been tagged by previous owners; a love heart, 3 dicks (that was original) and a lightning bolt. What was also unique about it was the fact that the combination lock was bigger than the others. It was about as big as her palm, and instead of the numbers going to thirty-five like the rest of them did, it went up to a hundred. She twisted in the combination; nineteen to the left, nine to the right, and four to the left.

But before she could open the compartment, she was slammed into it from behind. Keeping a straight face she turned to see exactly whom she expected to see. Her hair was blacker than coal and her eyes were a dark mix of brown and evil. Her skin was fair, with plump red lips and a body that was most guys fantasied sleeping with. It was little miss popular; Morgan Fay.

"Hey Arty, what's up?" She said in her usual sticky sweet voice. Morgan Fay was the school's top bitch. Every girl (excluding Artemis of course) wanted to be her and every guy wanted to be with her (screw her is more like it). She was a senior and head cheerleader, even when she got pregnant during Junior year she was still the most popular girl in school. What kind of flipped social logic was that?

"Nothing much, Morgan, nothing much." Artemis said coolly, trying to repress the on coming urge to punch the teen before her. As the school's female bully she had many targets, Artemis in particular was her favorite. She was the reason Artemis had no close friends, since all were scared of the teens wrath, and the blond couldn't blame them.

"I see, and you know what?" Morgan asked lightly, yanking a lock of the blonde's hair out of the ponytail and played with it. "I still can't think why a little basket baby such as yourself is in this school, I was sure by now you'd be drop out looking for your next client on a street corner. Don't you think so guys?" Morgan asked her friends who stood behind her (like they always did) and voiced their agreement.

Artemis clenched her fists but didn't faze, and kept a mantra in her head. _Don't punch her, don't punch her, do NOT punch her._ "I could say the same, Morgan." Artemis drawled, smacking the older girl's hand away and placing the lock of hair behind her ear. "But you're retired now right? I'm sure it's because forty-year-old men don't find stretch marks attractive now, do they tubbers?"

Suddenly a hand flew across her face, landing right on her cheek. The force of the hit pushed her back again into her locker. She reached up to her stinging cheek and breathed heavily. _Don't kill her, don't kill her, do NOT kill her! _She hissed as her fingers touched the spot and she looked up to give Morgan the most menacing death glare she could muster, though the older teen didn't falter. The smirk that was plastered on Morgan's face made Artemis' anger bubble up to a dangerous level. Artemis wanted to hurt her, she wanted to hurt her _bad_. Give her a physical sum up of all the abuse that the senior had given her.

But she had to remember Dinah.

She had already gotten in trouble for being in a fist fight (that she didn't started) last week with some fat chick that bumped into her and blamed the blond for their collision. She didn't want to upset her caretaker again or give herself another reason to become even more of a social outcast for beating up Morgan to the point where she couldn't walk right. Besides she was a mum (even though she gave the kid away), and she didn't like the idea of beating up someone's mother, now matter how much of a bitch she was.

"You should watch your mouth Blondie, it can really get you into trouble one day." Morgan warned and quickly turned, causing her black hair to whip the younger teen in the face and strutted down the hall with her lackeys trailing behind, any people in the way parted like the red sea for her.

Artemis watched as she left, then growled at all the students who decided to stand and watch the incident, who all fled on cue. She sighed; everyone had something to talk about tomorrow. Everyone left for his or her next class while Artemis stayed in the empty hallway. She sighed and opened her locker. Why did Morgan like to pick on her anyway? It was probably because said blond was the only one in the entire school that wasn't scared of her, and nothing pissed Morgan Fay off more than a person she couldn't control.

Just a normal day in the life of Artemis Crock. She hated how life for some was hard for absolutely no reason at all. Like always, she reached up to feel the comforting coolness of her necklace when her eyes snapped open in realization: her necklace was gone! She clutched her books and searched the floor frantically, looking everywhere for the piece of jewelry. That's when sensed someone else's presence.

"'Together in Wonderland', unusual inscription." Artemis whipped her head around to see boy about her age or older standing there holding her necklace.

"Hey!" Artemis yelled and cantered up to him to swipe the necklace from his hand, but just in the nick of time he pulled it away.

"Ah ah ah," He said, holding the trinket high above her head, Artemis mentally cursed when she realized he was tall enough to hold it high above her head so she couldn't reach it. "You have to the magic word." He taunted, his green eyes twinkling with mischief.

_Green . . . ? _She paused, mesmerized by them. She already noticed he was tall, he had a Gotham 'Gaters Basket ball cap on blocking her view of his hair, wore a pair of faded jeans and worn out converse and wore a red leather jacket over a bright yellow t-shirt. He didn't look like anyone she had met and he looked normal enough, fair skin, a few freckles, nothing really familiar but those eyes . . . She was sure she had seen them before .

She came back to her senses and glowered at the teen before her. "Can I _please_ have my necklace back?" She spoke in a venomous tone, she couldn't be bothered to argue about saying the 'magic word', the necklace was just too precious.

He chuckled and lowered the accessory. "Actually the magic word was 'strawberry jam', but since you said please." He smiled and gave her the necklace.

Snatching it from him Artemis fastened it back around her neck, tugging on it few times to make sure it wouldn't unlock. Her scowl then turned into a pensive expression as she examined the boy again, who seemed to be looking at her with concern.

"That's a nasty mark on your cheek." He said stiffly, as if he was trying to suppress something.

Ignoring him her eyes narrowed more. "Who are you anyway?"

He shrugged. "Just some guy who picked up that cool looking necklace. Where'd you get it from anyway?" He asked pointing at it. The necklace the blond wore was on a silver chain and on the end was a little pendant of a white rose with blood staining the edges of the petals.

"No where, but . . . thanks for picking it up." She grumbled and fiddled with her books.

The truth was the necklace and a note stating her name was the only thing with her when they found her, it was most likely from her mother, a sign that she loved her. Though the blond tried to forget her thoughts on the women who had abandoned her and throw away the necklace, but she was too attached to it to ever be without it. It was the last thing she had, the last thing that connected her to her unknown family, and for a girl who had too many questions about her past-how could she get rid of it? But then again, 'Together in Wonderland' had been engraved onto the back; it probably meant that she'd be with her family again, what a load of bull.

"No prob Beautiful, and can I at least know your name?" The boy asked leaning against the locker next to hers.

She rolled her eyes muttered a swear under her breath at what he called. _At least it's not Arty Farty. _She sighed, avoided eye contact with him for a second before replying. "Artemis."

"Really? Cool name, like the goddess." He said back. "But you look more like an . . . Alice."

Artemis shook her head turned to look at him, but he was already gone and walking down the hallway. "Hey! Don't I get to learn your name!?"

He turned back and smirked. "You'll find out eventually!" He called back and then he went around the corner and he was gone. Artemis could help but stare at the spot the boy once stood, where had she seen him before?


	4. Chapter 3: Quiet

Artemis shivered at the cold breeze that blew by and walked a little faster down the sidewalk. She had just finished her job working at the local bookstore, cleaning out the back storage room that housed half the world's dust. It was already seven thirty and streetlights were the only thing keeping the slums from plunging into complete darkness.

The blond pulled her jacket tighter around her torso; why did she wear such a thin jacket? Autumn had just started but in Gotham but it already felt like cruel winter. She walked a little faster since being out at this time wasn't really a good idea.

She passed an alleyway, looking in to see a bunch of alley cats rummaging through a garbage bin, looking for any scraps like they did every night. They stopped searching to look at her, but they didn't glare or hiss, just stare, their cold eyes seemed to bulge out of their heads. Suppressing the urge to shudder at the creepiness of that she kept waking. Then something moved.

Artemis jumped slightly, it wasn't a figure, it was a shadow, zipping around the corner up ahead. Probably a cat or a small dog. She kept walking and rounded the same corner, cursing herself for becoming paranoid in an environment she grew up in. The orphanage was in sight, but the porch light was off. It was never turned off unless everyone in the house was already asleep, and it was a Friday, so the children's bedtimes weren't until eight thirty. Besides, even if they were asleep Dinah would never turn the light off until she got home. Something was definitely wrong.

Artemis broke into a sprint and reached the door, fumbling in the darkness trying to get her key into the lock. She finally managed to open the door and flick on the light above her in the corridor. All other lights were off, and for a house full off children it was quiet . . . Too quiet.

"Hey! Anyone home?" The teen yelled out. No answer. Something was really wrong.

She crept down the hall and saw something shift in the kitchen, someone was in there. Shrugging her backpack off her shoulders she gripped it by one of the straps, ready to swing it at any sign of an intruder. The blond slowly stepped into the kitchen but as soon as she did the lights flashed above . . .

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**AN: Cliffhanger! Sorry about the late update, the shortness of this chapter and the cliffy but I've been really busy lately, writing chapter and re-editing other stories and doing school work and so on. But fear not! I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. **

**R&R Plz!**


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